Painting Kitchen Cabinets

I ’m not sure what took me SO long to share the steps I took to paint our kitchen cabinets, but after 10 people asked me to send them the process I used over the course of one weekend, I figured it was time!

Our cabinets are inexpensive, builder grade oak cabinets. You know the kind – the orangey ones from the early 90’s. No cabinet pulls or knobs, just very basic cabinets.

Forgive me for the poor quality photos. I scoured through old cell phone photo folders to (hopefully) find I hadn’t deleted all of them.

Mom and I knew we wanted it light and bright and completely opposite of what it was and that’s why we chose classic white and black. It’s timeless and let’s be honest, it’s our two favorite colors! We love the versatility of a classic, neutral kitchen palette.

Instead of my rambling about how much the two of us love black and white, how about I just get to the point and share the detailed steps I took to go from orangey oak to classic white.

First and most importantly, I cleaned the cabinetry like my life was dependent upon it! I had to rid them of all the years of grease, grime and dirt. I used an automotive cleaner called, Purple Power that I bought at Auto Zone. I used scrubby sponges, a toothbrush and a scrub brush to get in all the nooks and crannies. Then I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed again to make certain there was no residual coating of soap.

Next, I removed the doors from the frame and labeled the inside of each cabinet (for instance: “upper spices” or “lower pots ‘n pans”, etc. I also labeled the work space  on my tarp-covered table with the same name for that door…make sense?). That way, I could remember which door belonged where.

The next step is sanding. I used 320 grit sandpaper and sanded everywhere; front and back of doors and the framework and wiped it clean with tack cloth. There should be ZERO dust on your cabinet doors or frames. I know it seems like a lot of prep work, but that’s the part that’s incredibly important if you want your paint to adhere and last.

You can use painters pyramids to lay your doors on (Amazon sells them).

Priming is the next step. I personally used  Valspar Stainblocking Bonding Primer/Sealer. I did one coat and after it dried, I sanded it with 320 grit sandpaper and cleaned it with the tack. Next day, 2nd coat of primer, sand and tack cloth clean.

The third day was the first coat of Benjamin Moore Advance Paint. I painted both sides of the cabinets and the framework. The 4th day, I sanded with 400 grit sandpaper and used a tack cloth to clean each cabinet door. Then I painted the second coat…repeated it all again on the 5th day with the 3rd, final coat of paint. As a side note, I definitely recommend using high end synthetic brushes like Purdy brand.

After that 3rd, final coat, I didn’t  sand that one. It looked pretty darn smooth at that point.

As hard as it was, I waited three days to rehang the doors. The longer the paint cures, the better.

I do recommend drilling the holes for your hardware (that’s if you don’t already have them) before you paint. That way there’s no chance of hurting your pristine paint job!

That’s pretty much it! I’d definitely give yourself a solid week to 10 days for this DIY project, but it’s so worth the work!

Feel free to ask any questions you may have and I’ll do my very best to answer them.

Happy Painting, friends